A Prayer at Dusk
by Adeline Wrights Fanfiction
Summary: Dusk settles at the end of a hunt as Adeline weeps over the corpse of her fallen foe. Though the intimacy of the dance leaves her bewildered and breathless, the end is always the same: A life for a life, a scar for a scar. [An anthology of musings on life, death, and the spaces between.]
1. Adeline's Prayer

**Adeline's Prayer  
**

* * *

Rest, o' weary fighter;  
Sleep in lasting peace.

Your time of suffering  
Comes to pass.

No man or beast  
Can hold you fast.

Be free of worldly tethers.  
Be free of aches and fears.

This savage land will mourn you.  
The rain shall be its tears.

We thank you for the life you gave.  
We thank you for this dance.

Your life will not have been in vain.  
Your flesh will yet enhance

Our lives, our stomachs full,  
Your bones our weapons and our tools.

We celebrate this sacred dance,  
This aching, bittersweet romance.

Now rest, great beast, for you did give  
Another chance for us to live.


	2. Dreadqueen Conflicted

**Dreadqueen / Conflicted**

* * *

The Dreadqueen, The Dirge,  
The Rathian Scourge;

Once you brought me  
Near to death,  
Poison seeping in each breath.

Lethal, savage majesty!  
Be still, my heart —  
This will not be the end of me.

You may have won the battle,  
But there is no war to fight.

When next we meet,  
I aim to greet you  
Not with steel,  
But open arms.

Be kind, sweet love.  
Your endless life  
Must also meet with  
Endless strife.

Are these toxins,  
Shed from  
Spikes and nails

The ending of your  
Hellish tale?

How many hunters  
Have you felled  
To grow your might  
To elder scales?

The scholars call you deviant,  
But I must call you else.  
Your pain is clear from heavy blows  
And empty, hollow yells.

Each day since then  
I've dosed myself  
With toxins from  
Your sister ilk.

When next we meet  
In hail and sleet,  
Your venom will not  
Fell me flat and still.

I pray we dance  
The Danse Macabre.  
I pray you offer  
Not your scars,

But tales of  
Tests and trials.  
Still I pray and  
Pray and will;

I pray that next  
We must not kill.  
Let loose your fury!

Become the roar —  
Be no more hollow;  
Become the soul  
Of sorrow and grief.

Begone, ye thief!  
Let loose your pain.  
Let out your blood.

Be free from sorrow;  
Drown not in mud.

A life for a life  
Is always the end.  
Grant me this dance;

I vow to send  
Your soul on to  
The promised land.

Rest, my queen,  
And sleep in peace.  
Be free from sorrow,  
Pain, and grief.


	3. The Carving Knife

**The Carving Knife**

* * *

The Carving Knife,  
The hunter's tool  
So sacred,  
Essential,

Eternally used.

When young Adeline  
First took hold of her knife,  
Was told that this tool  
Was essential for life,

It was then that she knew:

An eye for an eye,  
A scar for a scar.  
One day she would kill  
Or die lonely and starved.

This was the truth of a heart that was marred.


	4. Adeline’s First “Hunt”

**Adeline's First "Hunt"  
**

* * *

When I was young, my first live combat experience was against a captured Jaggi in the arena. Its claws and fangs had been filed down while it was tranquilized,, but my shortsword was razor sharp.

At the time, I was too frightened of the ferocious form set upon me to realize how harmless it was. How cruel this exercise was!

My footwork, not deft, my blade clumsily wielded in small hands. It was sweet mercy for the poor raptor when I had finally ended its life. In those final moments, I saw its soul drain from its eyes.

I waited for it to bleed out, made certain it had passed, then set to work carving its hide and bones as I had been taught. And in carving out this Jaggi's heart, I too was slain. This would be my life as a hunter, I realized.

Then and there, I made a promise:

In these fatal confrontations, these harrowing struggles between life and death, I would do everything in my power to be swift, merciful, and compassionate. If death must be the order of the day, then let us dance the Danse Macabre.

May our meeting be blessed by mutual respect and understanding. May each hunted know, even as I sink my blade between their ribs, that I love them, that I mourn for them, and that their lives will be cherished by the stomachs they fill and the tools they become to aid in our continued survival.

I wish not to be a thief of precious life, but ours is a savage land. Whether we become survivors or food, know that it is love is which shall win the day.


	5. Burdened

**Burdened**

* * *

Sometimes, the burden  
Of the lives I've bled  
Weighs heavily upon my heart.

There are days when I wake  
With leaden limbs and a  
Hollow ache between my ribs;

The same place I would  
Sink my blade to  
End a hunted's pain.

And every time, without fail,  
I weep as their  
Breath leaves them.

Prayers and hopes of love  
Do not cease this  
Endless mourning,

Nor does the carving  
Of their tattered flesh  
Leave my mind

As I wield new arms,  
Don new clothes,  
Or sate my belly's growls.

Sweet loves, sweet loves!  
Can you forgive me  
This endless violence?

Would that we could  
Come to an accord  
Written in aught but blood.


	6. The Mirror Breaker

**The Mirror Breaker**

* * *

I met someone today. The Mirror Breaker, they called her, but later she would introduce herself to me as Lily. It was when I went into the Kitchen for supper — there was a large crowd gathered around a stout, sun-shaded woman.

She appeared youthful yet wisened at the same time, an alluring enigma, but her body was covered in long, deep scars. And oh, her voice! I was pulled into her song as sirens drag sailors to the deep; she wove a tale of derring-do so magnificent, so enchanting, that I dared not look away. And when she scanned the crowd her eyes would catch mine, gaze lingering for long moments at a time.

As I listened, I learned of the Mirror Breaker's final hunt before she left the brutish hammer for the glaive. Her Kinsect companion skittered from shoulder to shoulder, at times trailing down her arms, buzzing its wings dramatically whenever Lily became most animated.

I was mesmerized by her vivid recollections, her own awe and reverence for the Barioth she hunted clear in every word. She had brought the creature near to death, had shattered both of its tusks before it fled to a crystalline ice cavern.

It was foolish of her to give chase.

The walls of the cavern were as mirrors, great sheets of reflective ice, and the Barioth stalked her relentlessly in its new domain. With every lunge and swipe, Lily would point to one of her many scars. Finally, nearing the end of her own fortitude, she played a desperate gambit:

With all of her tremendous might, she struck the walls of the house of mirrors until the frost-walls shattered, caving in the entire chamber. She would be trapped, but so would the Barioth. At last, when the wreckage settled, Lily had somehow clung to both life and consciousness. The Barioth, however, retained neither. Never before that day had she so respected a fallen foe.

And thus, the Mirror Breaker – now a local legend – set down her instrument of brutish strength in favor of a weapon which venerated the lives she would invariably clash with. She named her Kinsect Frostfang in honor of the flying wyvern which had at once changed the course of her life.

Her insectile companion took to the air with a flourish before circling the crowd as they cheered. For one fleeting moment, Frostfang alighted on my shoulder. Lily the Mirror Breaker gave me a knowing, sympathetic smile.

* * *

I dug into my notebook as the crowd dispersed, half-filled with field observations for the scholars, half-filled with journal entries and poetry kept to myself. I didn't notice the souls approaching from behind as I wrote until one read my writing aloud.

" _An eye for an eye.  
_ _A scar for a scar.  
_ _May my prayers reach you,  
_ _No matter how far._

" _One life for another;  
_ _It is always the same.  
_ _Must we abide by this fate?  
_ _Must we play this cruel game?"_

I whirled 'round at the sound of the voice — _her_ voice. She innocently offered a pint of mead in her outstretched arm, Kinsect fluttering its wings lazily over the back of her hand.

"Tragic words. But compassionate. May I sit with you, young Miss? I am Lily — never mind the Mirror Breaker nonsense. That's all a spectacle."

I fumbled with my notes as I scrambled to put them away and make space for flagon proffered. "I am Adeline. Please, sit with me. You're quite the orator."

Lily laughed as she took a seat across from mine at the small, lonely table. I always sought out the quietest corners and rarely spoke to others outside of guild work. This was the first time I had been approached so casually in years.

Bright, weathered eyes sought out my breathless haze. "I've been wanting to speak with you for some time now. They have a name for you too. Did you know? From at least two regions over, they call you the Soul Catcher."

"The Soul Catcher?" I asked, bewildered.

"They say you catch the monsters' souls as they leave their bodies and embrace them, making sure they understand that there is no malice in our violence before letting them drift off to their next lives. Well, lots of people just laugh it off. Do monsters even have souls? I believe they would if we did too. But one thing is clear—"

My face bloomed feverishly red as Lily leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.

"Your love and respect for life are incredible. You're an inspiration, Adeline." She tossed her head back and laughed a little too loudly. "Ah! I might have had too much to drink tonight. Sorry, sorry! I'll leave you be now. I know you don't like to talk much."

As suddenly as she had arrived, Lily stood to leave. As if compelled by some unknown force, I caught her by the hand. "Wait!" I cried. My fingers loosened around Lily's own, tracing her wrist as I made my way closer to Frostfang. The Kinsect flickered its wings once before falling still.

"May I?" I asked.

Lily nodded, and Frostfang scuttled calmly onto my wrist. Without fear, hesitation, or thought, I brought the Kinsect to my lips and kissed its shell at the joints of its wing casing. It fluttered once, then twice before flying back to Lily's shoulder.

We both stood, eyes locked, blushing furiously at each other. "Be well, Adeline," Lily said, turning away with several unsteady strides.

I watched as she went, lips burning, mind churning, wondering exactly what just happened and if perhaps we would get another chance to share the experience again.

Fate will guide us I suppose, its hand ever certain, ever cold.


End file.
